Former USC standout Brian Cushing describes medical condition

The Houston Texans asked the NFL on Monday to reduce or rescind the four-game suspension given to star linebacker Brian Cushing, saying he has a unique medical condition stemming from something called overtrained athlete syndrome.

Cushing described the condition after Monday morning’s practice. He said the syndrome can trigger hormonal spikes after breaks in training, explaining why he would have tested positive for a fertility drug last September — a drug he said he never took.

“I think that’s the final diagnosis we came up with,” he said, “and a lot of doctors have supported why this has happened.”

Texans owner Bob McNair met with Commissioner Roger Goodell in New York to plead his case. The league denied Cushing’s appeal of the suspension in February.

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The New York Jets rejected the latest offer proposed by the agents for All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis, and owner Woody Johnson is not optimistic a deal can get done before the regular season.

“The answer’s no,” Johnson said tersely Monday, a few hours after agent Neil Schwartz told the Associated Press he was awaiting a response from the Jets.

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Albert Haynesworth made it through his first full practice with the Washington Redskins, working as a second-string nose tackle two days after he passed the team’s conditioning test.

Haynesworth wasn’t allowed to practice until he passed the test. He passed it Saturday morning, but his knee was too sore to make it through a complete practice Saturday afternoon. Sunday was a day off for players.

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Indianapolis Colts reserve defensive lineman John Gill isn’t expected to play for the team this season after an arrest on suspicion of public intoxication over the weekend.

Team President Bill Polian said that he expects the NFL to put Gill in a roster category that would keep him inactive this season.

Gill was arrested early Sunday after Indianapolis police found him passed out in a ditch. A police report said Gill tried to stand but kept falling over.

The 23-year-old Gill was released from jail after the charge was dropped. Gill played in two games as a rookie with the Colts last season.

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John Phillips, the Dallas Cowboys’ No. 3 tight end last season as a rookie, is out for the season after tests confirmed that he tore a ligament in his right knee in the exhibition opener Sunday night against Cincinnati.

ETC.

Safina, Clijsters to meet in Cincinnati

Formerly No. 1-ranked Dinara Safina beat Roberta Vinci, 7-5, 6-4, at the Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio, to set up a second-round match with U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters, who has not played on the women’s tour since her Wimbledon quarterfinal defeat.

Clijsters received a first-round bye at Cincinnati along with defending champion and top-seeded Jelana Jankovic.

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Rachel Rohanna set a U.S. Women’s Amateur scoring record with a 65 during a muggy first round of stroke play at Charlotte, N.C.

Rohanna, an all-Big Ten player at Ohio State, had nine birdies and two bogeys to finish at seven under on the 6,559-yard Charlotte Country Club course.

Sixty-four of 156 players will advance to match play after a second day of stroke play Tuesday in this U.S. Golf Assn. event, concluding with a 36-hole final on Sunday.

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Admission will be free at this year’s Senior Players Championship in Potomac, Md.

The PGA Tour announced that tickets are on the house for all spectators during the entire week at this year’s final major on the Champions Tour.

The Senior Players Championship will be held Oct. 7-10 at the newly renovated TPC Potomac at Avenel Farm in the suburbs of Washington.

The PGA Tour says the tournament will be the first modern major championship on any of the U.S. professional golf tours to offer free admission for every fan.

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NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets will face each other in regular-season games March 4 and 5 at the O2 Arena in London, the same venue that has hosted exhibition games over the last several years.